Nameless

She cautiously opened the door, slowly and silently. The corners of her mouth forced a slight smile as she observed the vibrant colors projected into the room from the dusty window. Her vibrant smile faded as she awkwardly entered the sunset-lit room in her black attire. She felt misplaced, but that was normal in that house. A draft from the old window whipped past, sounding familiarly like murmurs. This made her fidget even more, for her paranoia was ambitiously creeping up on her. 



She stood motionless, picking up every sigh of movement. She was not going to get caught this time, she shuttered at the memories of failed attempts, each time the punishment growing worse. She nervously ran her fingertips over her scars from her recent punishment. She referred to them as battle scars, as motivation to keep fighting for life. Since she had accidentally shed a microscopic amount of blood on Sir's (least favorite) tie earlier that day, she was to starve for 2 more days. In the past week she'd only eaten one-and-a-half  meals, so she was getting very weary and weak. It was almost dark, the sun almost done setting, so Sir should've been in his bedroom. All she wanted was a leaf of lettuce.



Attempts to get food like this usually ended with beatings meant to hurt for weeks, sometimes months. She was only going to grab the scraps and run straight back up to her bathroom-sized room, if you could call it a room. She waited only moments before sliding her feet one-by-one closer to the counter. On the floor above, something scampered across the floor. She flinched, knowing it was a rat, but terrified of the dogs chasing it and waking up the Master. She stood frozen, listening; waiting. When all remained silent, she continued her quest.



She successfully made her way to the vegetables, with still no sign of human (or dog) activity. Caught up in the excitement of finally getting to eat, she hastily ripped the leaf from the cabbage head, frightening a nearby rat. She jerked around to see the rat shaking, with the dogs quietly glaring at the pathetic rodent. She stood still as the creature, who was debating whether to be eaten or clawed to death. It must have chosen to be clawed to death, because the moment his tail flicked as a sign of escaping, the dogs were already on their paws. They barked, whined, and ran inti things, making them fall over. In a scared panic, she tripped over her dirty feet, and landed o a pile of dirty dishes.The pots and pans crashed on the stone floor, creating a fantasia of sounds. She screamed as she looked up to see Sir glaring furiously down at her.



"What on earth...WHAT IS HAPPENING DOWN HERE?! Why aren't you preparing clothes for tomorrow? And WHAT is in your hands?" His petrifying voice boomed. She stammered in fear, unable to reply. He picked up a clump of her hair and yanked her to her feet. He spotted the leaf grasped menacingly in her fists. His face relaxed, replaced with a smile so inhuman. "Ahhhh, I see, you were just trying to get a nibble before your stomach caved in, huh? Is that all you wanted?" His voice was as though he was speaking to a child. Nearby, a rat hurried through the kitchen, trailing behind were the dogs. She looked up to see his face grow a devious smile, making her heart beat faster. "May I?" He gestured towards the almost-ripped piece of lettuce. She hesitated, but obeyed, Still smiling oddly, he disappeared into the next room. She was left there, trembling and scared of what he might do.



He reapeared with the leaf folded around something in the center. He stood in front of her and extended his arm.



"Eat it. You want something to eat? Fine, here's your entree!" He unfolded the edges to reveal... dog poo. Careful not to sigh i relief, she stood hand-on-her-hip and rolled her eyes.



"I'll die of starvation, but thanks for the offer." She gave a sarcastic smirk.



Sir was appalled. "Why you're not back-talking me, are you little-miss-nothing? Well, since you can't die...sadly... or I'd be accused of murder, EAT IT!" He drew his arm back and slammed his palm full of "food" into her face. He was a built man, so the hit made a crack noise ascend from her face. She cried as she stumbled backwards, tyring to scrape the slimy brown substance from her mouth. Her mouth was soon filled with the taste of blood, along with the blood. She moaned and whined as she rolled on the ground in searing pain.



"You...son't..know...how...illegal...this...YOU..are!" She yelled between sobs. At this remark, he took a few steps back and was about to show her what illegal really was, when there was a knock at the door. His eyes traveled between the and her.



"Shut up! Go hide and DON'T LET ANYONE SEE YOU!" He whispered quite loudly. They knocked again, harder. "I'm coming!" He replied in a sing-song voice. She was disturbed by his sudden change in character. She snatched a rag and held it to her face. With great struggle, she managed to pull herself to her feet and climb up the stairs. It looked like a scene from The Grudge as she crawled, but less demonic and much more bloody.



When she made it to the top, She sat back against the wall, out of sight from anyone passing below. She reached up to wipe away her hair, but found it, too, was coded in the Scarlett substance. She took the torn rag and began clearing the poo and blood from her eyes, mouth, cheeks, and very carefully, her nose. It had to be broken, it was throbbing painfully and creating a waterfall of blood. Sir obviously wasn't going to fix t, hospital bills wasted on a piece of nothing (her) was unspeakable. Besides, it's not like this was the first time this had happened.



Below she could hear voices of men she'd never heard before. She scooted closer to the edge of the stairs, but remained still out of sight.



"Sir, are you sure there's no one else living in this household?"



"Why would I lie?"



"Because of our file that says you were suspected of murder for your deceased wife after possibly beating her. A few people mentioned she had given birth to a healthy baby girl the night before. But, where's the baby?" The mysterious man's voice sounded curiously questionable.



"Oh, that baby. I sent her away with her aunt because she... she..." Sir paused dramatically. "...She reminded me too much...of my beloved Talia!" He started to (fake) sob.



"Um, sir, your file said her name was Jennine."



"Ah, same difference. I mean... Oh my Jennine!"



"Sir, where is your daughter?!" He demanded.



"Could you tell us your mane once more, please?" A second foreign voice joined the other two. 



"Why? That's not important here..."



"Sir!" the first voice yelled.



"Alright, okay, fine, my name is Caspian Alexandren. "



"Well, Caspian, reveal to us your daughter or we will get full rights to search this house."



"There's no need to. I am alone in this house"



"Large house for only one man."



"I like my space."



"And I'm sure your daughter likes her space, too. Considering she should be about...15?17? Teenagers and their privacy!"



"I'm sure she would, if she existed," Sir replied smartly.



"Well then you'd no problem us taking a look around upstairs, would you?"



"Uhh... how about a drink before you get all tired searching for nothing? His voice was full of desperate encouragement.



"Only if you will stay with us."



"Uh, yeah, of course! Let me just... go get the wine. You gentlemen may go ahead and seat yourselves at that table, and I'll join you momentarily."



She quickly rushed into her room before he could find her eavesdropping on a "private" conversation. She hastily began folding clothes, moments before Sir stormed through the door.



"Listen brat, you better find one of your 'genious' hiding spots and stay put! If they find you, we're BOTH in trouble! NOW SCRAM!" The veins in his throat wee popping out. That had to be unhealthy. She nodded and jogged silently to a crawls space/crack in the ceiling inside of a hallway closet. Everything grew silent once again.



"Sorry it took so long, gentlemen." Sir's voice.



"Who were you talking to?" First man's voice.



"Hey, where's the wine?" Second man's voice.



"Oh, my, it seems that while I was yelling at... a bird, I must've set it down upstairs. let me just run back and get it."



"Maybe I should go with you and make sure this 'bird' doesn't bother you again." The first man's masculine voice.



"Oh, no, it's really okay, the upstairs is such a mes..."



"Walk, Caspian!"



She held her breath as the men's shadows moved across the floor of the crack under the door.



"What a lovely upstairs. Would you give me a tour?" Sir hesitated, but continued walking.



"Why yes, of course I will. Pardon the mess, you were kind of unexpected visitors." The man didn't reply, but their footsteps continued to fade down the halls. After sitting there for maybe ten minutes, she realized it's probably 8:00, and she hadn't slept in over 24 hours. Her eyelids grew heavy in the silence. Although it was dark in that little crack in the closet, everything went pitch black. She awoke to the footsteps (joined by the second man) and loud, drunken conversations of two of the men. She couldn't clearly tell what they were trying to say through their slurs. What she could, she tried to make sense of their words, and apparently the mysterious men were still (attempting) to find her. They were coming closer to her hideout, and Sir didn't know she was in there... he might do something stupid and find her! She worriedly shoved herself farther back into the crack, hoping her drunken master would drop dead from alcohol poisoning before he reached the door.. She was hidden by sheets, with one little hole to see below her. But it was too late.



"So, you hidin' a hot dog-eating unicorn in THIS closet Cas-sp'n?" The second man asked. How odd.



"Naw,naw naw naw naw naw naw, you got it all wrong! There's a... a magical honey  badger gettin' frisky with the spiders!" Sir yelled very loudly. She wondered silently if that was even possible.



The door swung open and she held her breath, afraid of what Sir would do to her if she was caught. but while holding her breath, she couldn't sniff up the blood before dripping from her broken nose onto the first man's hair. He looked up, running his fingers through his hair.



"Blood." He concluded.



"What about it? I got plenty of it right- here!" Sir pointed to his chest while shouting. The first man ignored him, obviously not drunk himself. She became even more scared, so she closed her eyes and pretended to be unconscious. He shoved the pile of bed sheets out of his way to see the whole crack. He gasped to see a teenage girl's body stored in the ceiling.



"Caspian! What are you playing at?" He screamed at Sir, and began trying to carefully pull her faking body down.



"I have no idea what you are talking about!" Sir said in a childish voice.



The man held her inn his arms firefighter-style and pushed his way through the two men. He laid her gently on the floor and began checking for pulse.



"Aiden you intoxicated fool!Call 9-1-1 NOW!" He must've been referring to his partner. "She has a pulse, but it's so very faint. Arrest this man for child abuse, and just about everything else!" Aiden lamely tackled Sir, who didn't put up a fight until he realized he'd been caught. He began screaming death threats, curses, and everything else at her "unconscious" body. The man called Aiden told him to shut up and then took him outside.



"Miss, can you hear me? Move anything at all if you can hear me. She reluctantly twitched her fingers, actually beginning to feel drowsy.



"Miss, can you speak? What is your name?" She couldn't move her mouth, her face was beginning to hurt very badly. "Miss, can you open you eyes? Are you in pain?" She groaned, her nose throbbing twenty times worse.



"Help is on the way. You are free now. Taht man can never hurt you again, let alone come anywhere near you. You are his daughter, right? Moan if you are his daughter."



She moaned.



"Okay, help is on the way. Just hang tight. You are a very tough girl, to stay with him all these years. You deserve much, much better." His voice faded, and the world went black.











"Miss, are you awake? Can you hear me? An older lady's voice was the first thing she heard.



"No." She replied.



"Hmm, good, it's nice to hear you talking and not moaning!" She laughed. Laughter. Something that the girl's life had been deprived of since she was born. She smiled.



"Where am I? She asked weakly. Her eyes were still closed, afraid of where she'd find herself.



"You're in Alkahome's Hospital. My, you've slept for the past 3 days!" She chuckled to herself.



"Where's Sir? He's not here is he?" The girl's voice shook with fear.



"Sir? Who's Sir? Is he someone important? I can call Officer Gavin and Officer Aiden in right away..."



"No, no, uh, Caspian. I meant Caspian Alexandren."



"Oh, that devilish devil! No honey, he put in prison. His trial is in a month. But for now, they're keeping him there to keep you safe. You are  safe now hun, you don't have to be scared."



The girl opened her eyes, first seeing a crack in the white ceiling. Memories. She looked around the sterilized hospital room. Beside her, sitting in a white chair, was the source of the old lady's voice. Actually, she wasn't old at all. She looked about 35-40 years old. She was wearing a pink nurse's outfit that made her look slightly larger than a stick. She was wearing the world's largest smile on her face.



"Oh,yes, I need to know you name. What would that be sweetie?"



"My name?"



" Yes, pumpkin, the title of which people call you by. What would it be?" The pet names were getting old.



"What he called me? Um, I guess... it was 'worthless piece of nothing'." The lady laughed like the girl was joking. But, there was still annoyance in her voice.



The girl just stared at her.



"That's it missy, I'm getting Officer Gavin!" With that, she stormed out of the room, leaving the girl sitting alone with a disturbingly confused look upon her face.Moments later, Officer Gavin appeared. He pulled up a chair next to the bed and smiled.



"Stop that." The girl demanded.



"Stop what?"He was deeply confused.



"Smiling like that. It's creepy. "



"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. So, Mrs. Jones informed me you refused to tell her your name. Is this true?" He still had a slight smile on his face.



"Yes."



"Can you tell me why?"



"Yes."



"...Are you going to tell me why?"



"No."



"No what?"



"No I won't tell you my name."



"Please tell me why." His voice was gentle.



"I... I don't have a name." Her head fell as she played with her dirty thumbs.



"Wait, so your father never told you your name?" He was very surprised.



"I just told you that."This man had much patience with her attitude.



"Well, I'm not sure what to do then...do you have any nicknames? Anything we can call you?" She thought very deeply about his question for several minutes.



"I don't know any names. I've never met anyone but Sir. And I don't like the names he calls me."She continued thumb wrestling with herself.



The office sat for awhile, staring at the nameless girl. By every second, his smile was growing wider.



"I got it. Cat. You remind me so much of a cat. You're shy, gentle, and sweet to people you like, or you're snippy, arrogant, and stuborn with people you don't.May we call you cat?" He chuckled at the cute pet name. She stared at him for a moment, thinking about what he had just said.



"Yes, you may call me Cat."



"Good,good. So, Cat, can me and a friend of mine ask you a few questions?"



"You already have."



"May we ask you a few more?"He was too patient for a girl with so much attitude.



"Yes."



"Okay, we'll be right back to ask you those question." He smiled and walked out of the room, again leaving her sadly alone. She didn't really want to answer questions, but she did become some-what fond of the officer and said yes, so she laid back down to tame her sleepy beast.



The officers weren't surprised or upset to walk in and see the nameless was finally sleeping peacefully. They smiled at the sight of her curled up with her hands under her head, sleeping like an angel. An angel with no name.











                                                                 Afterwards



"Come on, Cat! Time to go now. There's a surprise waiting for you." Officer Gavin held the car door open as she sat down on the leather seats. She was silent the whole ride, eventhough Officer Gavin tried to make convorsation. When they arrived, she barely even looked up at their destination. 



"Follow me, Cat. There's some people I want you to meet." He took her up to the large house where they had parked. He rang the chime doorbell, and a family of friendly faces apeared.



"Welcome home, Cat. This is where you'll be living from now on. Welcome to the family. He took her inside and introduced his family. "This is my wife Alice, my 3-year-old son Diego, and my 17-year-old son Marco."



After everyone said their hellos and went back to their lives, Marco slowly found his way over to the new girl.



"Hey, I'm... I'm MArco. W-what's your name?" He asked shyly.



"Hello. Um, my name?" He nodded. "My name is Catrina Alexandren, nice to meet you." She shook his hand awkwardly.



"Nice to meet you, too, Catrina." He smiled a bashful smile. "What a cute name." He blushed as he complemented her.



She blushed as well.



"Thanks. Hey, you don't have a cat, do you? Some people say I get along very well with cats."